IDENTIFICATION & SITE INFORMATION

  • Vessel Name: SECRET
  • Former Names: None known
  • Official Number: Unknown
  • Year Built: 1897
  • Place Built: Likely on the Great Lakes (specific yard unconfirmed)
  • Builder: Uncertain (records incomplete)
  • Vessel Type: Two-masted Schooner
  • Construction Materials: Wood
  • Dimensions (estimated):
    • Length: ~27 m (90 ft)
    • Beam: ~7.6 m (25 ft)
    • Depth of hold: ~2.4 m (8 ft)
    • Gross Tonnage: Approx. 110–150 tons (old measurement system)
  • Propulsion: Sail (fore-and-aft Schooner rig)
  • Final Location: Lake Huron, precise coordinates not recorded
  • Date of Loss: 13 October 1911
  • How Lost: Fire — burned to a Total Loss
  • Depth of Wreck: Unknown
  • Casualties: None reported
  • Present Condition: Destroyed by fire, with scattered debris possibly resting on the lakebed

VESSEL TYPE DESCRIPTION

SECRET was a wooden Schooner typical of the final years of Great Lakes sail. She was likely built for the modest bulk-cargo trade — hauling lumber, stone, or other low-value, high-volume goods. Her construction in 1897 makes her one of the later wooden schooners built before the era of steel bulk carriers fully dominated the lakes.

HISTORY AND OWNERSHIP

  • Owner(s): Name unconfirmed, but likely a commercial trader working the Huron and Georgian Bay routes
  • Purpose: Cargo transport of regional products (lumber, grain, general cargo)
  • Operational Context: Schooners by the 1890s were usually operated as consorts to steamers, towed from port to port to reduce costs while maximizing cargo — SECRET may have been used in this role.

FINAL DISPOSITION

On 13 October 1911, the Schooner SECRET suffered a catastrophic fire while operating on Lake Huron. The cause was uncertain — records only note “fire??” as the presumed explanation. She was burned to a Total Loss, and any remaining structure either sank in deep water or drifted apart before reaching shore. There were no known fatalities, suggesting the crew Abandoned ship safely.

PRESENT SITE CONDITION

  • Status: Believed totally destroyed, no confirmed wrecksite
  • Debris: Scattered timber and metal fastenings may remain on the lakebed
  • Archaeological Status: Unconfirmed, no formal survey located the site

CULTURAL SIGNIFICANCE

SECRET is a footnote in the closing era of wooden sailing schooners on the Great Lakes. Her loss marks one of countless quiet disappearances of wooden vessels around 1910–1915, as steel freighters replaced them almost overnight. Yet these final “ghost schooners” played a vital role in keeping trade flowing cheaply and efficiently through transitional years of Great Lakes maritime history.

REFERENCES & LINKS

VIDEOS & PHOTO GALLERIES

NOTE: There are no known images or footage of SECRET. However, comparable vessels of the same period can be seen: